Shrug part 1
I think this Rant series is important, especially on the heels of the last one about crossing oceans for people who wouldn't jump a puddle for you. Because it is our mandate, our calling, our purpose for being to love people. That's why we were created. That's what this life is for. That's why we're here. God loves us, and we love Him back by loving each other. The tricky part comes when people aren't ready, willing, or able to pick up what you're putting down. And, quite frankly, there's an easy solution to that problem. "If you're not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way" (Mark 6:11). Know when to say when. Do your best. Give it all you've got--because that's what love is: giving everything you have and everything you are. But let that be enough. You literally can't give more than all you can give. How could you? As my Arkansas raised daddy likes to say, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it float on it's back." You can shine the light of the world, but you can't make people see. Especially if they insist on squeezing their eyes shut. And, listen, as hard as that is--having the right answer but shouting it into the void--it's not your job to fix every problem that exists. It's not your job to force people to do, well, anything really. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. I like to say it like this: God knows what is best for you. He has seen the end from the beginning. But He is too much of a gentleman to force His will upon you. Sometimes He can get pretty persistent--just ask Jonah, right? But at the end of the day we have a measure of free will. Like my grandfather always said, "You can do anything you want, as long as you're willing to pay the consequences." That's why it's so important to count the cost. To think about what you're going to say or do before you say or do it. So here's the point: You can't help everybody. You won't get the result you want every single time. And that's ok. Sometimes all you can do is plant a seed. Then hope that someone else will water it. Or perhaps someone else has planted a seed and you get to water it. The point is, it's God who gets the harvest. It's the goodness of GOD that leads men to repentance. Not the effort of man. So, yes, love people. All the time. Do whatever you do heartily--to the best of your ability and because it's in your heart to do it. But don't keep banging your head against the wall. Listen. I know I'm not for everybody. There are people in this world that I can pour myself into and really see that I'm doing something posititve. And there are people in this world that wouldn't take my hand if they were falling off a cliff. So the best thing I can do--for them AND for me--is to continue to pour myself into those people that I CAN reach. Those people that DO hear me, and respect me, and think I have something worth offering. And to the rest of them--not hating, not punishing--I have to just shrug my shoulders and move on. There's no sense trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It doesn't fit. It doesn't work. And the more you try the more frustrated you'll get. So, again, give it all you've got. And then let that either be enough... or not.